I remember when I was when I first read about Haunting Ground in Game informer. At the time I was uninterested because my PS2 was proving to be difficult which made me hold a grudge against Sony for over a decade. My interest went to another game, Condemned for the Xbox 360. New survival horror games were exciting and I went with the one I wanted to play more. However, as time went on and I successfully survived Condemned there was always this unquenched curiosity about what Haunting Ground had to offer. More time passed and I met other fans of the genre and gaming itself. Fortunately, one of them had the capital to spend and willingness to let me borrow his copy. It was finally time to sit down and discover what I was missing. This review looks at some general aspects without dwelling too much into the story or characters. I split the game into four sections since there are four bosses. First few hours in and it’s going great, you’ve watched a terrifying introduction video (one of the best in my opinion). It was unlike any other survival horror game I’ve played. You play as a young lady named Fiona and you are absolutely defenseless. You can kick but the reality is that it is useless except in discovering items and opening hidden paths. There is an enemy you can defeat with it but that’ll come later. Events have transpired and you’re in unfamiliar territory, lost, confused, hopeless and frightened. Starting off strong. Then you run into the character the enemy that made this game unique, the one I remember reading about in Game Informer, the first enemy of the game, Debilitas (I provided a photo). Then you do what makes sense, you run as fast as you can to avoid increasing your panic levels which will cause you to lose control of Fiona for a brief time. This goes on for a while and is always a nightmarish experience. You solve puzzles, unlock doors and learn the layout which all leads to you finding your new best pooch of a friend, Hewie. Hewie is your friend, weapon and companion throughout the entire game. Let’s jump forward, imagine that you have beaten Debilitas and move onto the second section. This is where this review really critiques the game. After the first portion of the game you, obviously, move onto the next part. In the second part, this whole new area with new challenges and a new enemy you pretty much do the same thing. You run, you hide, Hewie saves you and you solve puzzles. The elements that originally caused fear became an annoyance. It is frustrating solving a puzzle, trying to figure things out in the game when you have to stop every few minutes and spend so much time either hiding or running just so you can backtrack to continue what you were doing. This formula does not change. It goes on throughout the entire game. With everyone their character and slight changes (one has a gun and the other a piece of glass) do add more to chase but overall it is tiresome. In survival horror games you usually have some sort of means to defend yourself, some item. You may have Hewie but doesn’t always follow you or doesn’t attack all the time so you want to be able to hold your own. Well, while these items exist they are practically useless. The items I used were to improve my speed, kick hiding skills, reduce my panic levels and restore stamina, not fight. The items used to fight are uncreative and scarce. The game relies on you to create most of any item through a system of alchemy. In Haunting Ground, that means playing a timing game to match so many certain colors by using a specific medallion, which proves to be just as scarce. Hewie can locate hidden ones but are you really going to have him search every corner? It’s a massive area and there just are not that many.This has been a long review and there’s much more but these were the two cons that really disappointed me. Let me sum up the rest and point out the many pros.

Cons:

Formula for the game, while different from pother games in the genere, became boring and aggravating.

Items were either scarce, too difficult to create or primarily just not needed. I rarely used items and the ones I did were often boots or a choker that you equipped. Rarely was there anything I used frequently. The alchemy system was awful, just awful. I began guessing and sometimes got what I needed.

Bosses, I spent a total of 10 minutes to beat all four bosses. I am not kidding here. They were too easy. Learning how to beat them took less than a minute. These enemies that stalk you throughout each section, causing fear and panic became the jokes of boss battles. I understand survival horror games aren’t made to have epic boss battles but they were too simple and could have had more thought placed into them.

There are almost no other enemies. There is nothing to keep you occupied except puzzles and hiding. It feels so empty and drawn out. I cannot say it is entirely empty, remember that enemy I said you kicked to defeat earlier? It’s a little homunculus that scares you. Sounds cool but it ultimately fails to deliver.

Pros:

Excellent soundtrack. It suits the game so well. I highly recommend you listen to it regardless if you play the game or not.

The atmosphere and story in the game is of the highest quality a survival horror game can produce. I was always in awe of the scenery, the messages, reading Fiona’s mental notes. Everything just made the game so uncanny.

Hewie, though he has his hiccups is a brilliant AI that does what is expected of him throughout the entire game.

The characters are terrifying. Every one of them was well crafted and provided notable dialogue in their respective cutscenes.

Haunting Ground is a survival horror game fans of the genre and PlayStation2 collectors alike strive to get their hands on. A complete copy as of now is just shy of $100.00, making it a collector’s item for sure. So, is it worth the price tag? Or is it even worth taking the time to play? Yes but only if you are a fan of survival horror games or feel like you need to justify you spending the amount the game cost. I’m glad I borrowed this game (I wouldn’t mind owning a copy though), it did not meet my expectations. It has multiple endings and a lot going for it if you like the genre and it is the only one of its kind that I know of. Being honest here, I’m still thinking about the game and everything I felt as I played it and most of my feelings are those of being disturbed and that is notable. I beat the game in just under 9 hours and there are a lot of content and other features I did not go over but I hope this review will help you decide if Haunting ground is a game you really want to play.